Nick Larkin
When a derided car becomes popular – and pricier…
Our Nick is once again extolling the virtues of the BMC Farina.
‘Farina prices have trebled – they’re now generally accepted as a classic staple’
You may need to get yourself a warm sweet tea and a Bourbon – biscuit or whiskey – to deal with the shock. I must reveal that there really was a time in the ascent of person that the venerable BMC Farina was not universally regarded as one of the most desirable classic cars ever; a pinnacle of transport achievement alongside Concorde and the Hillman Super Minx.
Heathens subjected tens of thousands of poor Farinas to a grim and grisly end on the banger track, with spectators beating their woad-painted chests and cackling primal chants as the beautiful lines of the cars were violently destroyed. I was genuinely traumatised when watching this carnage on ITV’S
World of Sport back in the Seventies, with only the fact we had black and white television sparing me the full horror.
I’d loved Farinas since, at a very early age, visiting MGT Cars in Hartlepool with long suffering pa and ma. In the corner was an Austin A60 Farina in grey. I remember clambering gleefully on to deep red leather seats and experiencing a supreme automotive elation. ‘Come away from that – it’s an old man’s car!’ howled my horrified dear old mum before locking me in my room for three months with Ferrari and Porsche posters pasted on the walls.
But my genuine love for Farinas never has abated – and even I don’t really know quite why. They are such a friendly classics and extremely solidly built, make a lovely noise and are sort of proper cars.
First of many
I bought my very first example in the early Eighties – £250 being paid for a snowberry white Austin A60, registration 375 CCH, from the classified columns of the Burton Daily Mail, followed by £10 for a spares car in maroon and later £275 for a slightly down at heel MG Magnette MKIV that I knew locally and had eventually been taken in part exchange at a local garage. This had the original Staffordshire registration number, BRE 272A and looked very fine in Farina grey – sadly I don’t think any of these cars have survived. Somewhat embarrassingly, I don’t have a receipt for the Austin A55 that I have owned since 1984, but think it was £450 – from a private owner in Bedford.
Throughout all this time I continually banged the drum for the Farina to be coveted, but received much derision. Few people begged to see my photo album. I once vowed that if I saw one more classic car article describing Farinas as ‘grey porridge’ I would personally tip a vat of this over the author.
Around 1984 I took the MG Magnette to a rally at Newhaven Fort, during which the ‘I love my MG’ sticker was removed by persons unknown.
For years you could buy a happy Farina for £1500, but in more recent times the price has trebled and the cars are a generally accepted classic car scene staple at long last.
Wedgie wonders
Something similar has happened to two other vehicles I have championed – but try convincing people of the joys of a BL ‘Wedge’ in 1995. And as for Austin Metros, well. I loved them from the very beginning, but for many years they were worth mere pennies. Although you could reasonably expect Metro prices to rise on the shirttails of Minis, we didn’t predict that you’d be paying quite a bit nowadays for a Rover-ised version,
So why does this happen? How come some of the very best BMC Farina restorations are nowadays actually being carried out by former banger racers? Maybe continued exposure to cars has helped their acceptance, plus there are clearly now fewer examples on the open market and obviously the cars are so much older, seemingly making them more subjects of nostalgia. Or perhaps it is just that their many joys are now more realised!